Monday, February 1, 2010

African Peanut Stew

When I was on my trip last week with my new girlfriends, I did some of the cooking. They all had recipe requests and asked if I would post more recipes on my blog and maybe a little less quilting. So, here is the soup that I served our first night together. I forgot the recipe, so I adlibbed, but it seemed to work out fine anyway. I made this soup and a salad and some yummy chocolate gluten free cupcakes. My friend RaeAnn struggles with some gluten sensitivity, so I tried to make food that she could enjoy with the rest of us. Tomorrow I am going to my Girl Gang meeting and I'll take a big pot of this soup for them to taste test too.

Method: Heat olive oil in a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper, carrot and celery; saute until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger and curry and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute; do not brown garlic. Add tomatoes and bay leaf; cook, uncovered, until tomatoes are slightly reduced about 3 minutes. Add broth and sweet potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer about 8 minutes. Stir in edamame and almond butter until combined. Cook until thoroughly heated, about 2 minutes. Stir in cilantro and spinach until it wilts. Season with salt and pepper. Serves 8 (I cook the soup until it gets thick and creamy like a stew. Takes slightly longer than the recipe.)

Judi, my very favorite homemade soup recipe is for African Quinoa soup. Is sounds similar to this -- peanut butter, sweet potato, other veggies, but different spices. I will have to send it to you cause you would love it! My entire family loves it.

About Me

My husband and I are the parents of 5 children. 2 boys and 3 girls. I love to travel, watch my children succeed, quilt, study nutrition (it's been a 35 year obsession), help others achieve good health, playing for hours in the kitchen creating awesome food and practice yoga.